By Ms March (Head of Geography)

On Friday 12th May, 40 Lower Sixth A Level and IB geographers set off to enjoy a three day and two night fieldwork tour of beautiful Dorset, staying at Leeson House near Swanage.

Renowned for its geology, economic landmarks, historic houses and gardens, Dorset is a geographer’s dream, brimming with many natural fieldwork locations. The purpose of the fieldwork visit was to develop investigative, digital data handling, graphical and statistical skills. For the A Level and IB Geographers, the NEAs and IAs respectively, fieldwork is seen as ‘core’ in both specifications. The programme was designed to cover units that will be examined in their final summer exams and there was emphasis on experiencing Geography in the field as well as on data collection.

Our first stop was Boscombe, a seaside town in Dorset. Here the students explored urban geography and investigated how Boscombe has changed over time and in particular the contrast in its deprivation compared to nearby settlements.

The following day, the students explored some of the most breath-taking geographical coastlines, the Jurassic Coast. A spectacular location surrounded by natural beauty, this coastline, a classic textbook example was suddenly brought to life. Chesil beach, Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove were the final stops. overall It was a memorable day.   

On our final day we ventured into a new urban area/suburb just outside Dorchester – Poundbury - King Charles is a patron of this development and was the brains behind this urban area. The students carried out various types of surveys to collect data from which to analyse.

It was a great trip in beautiful weather which involved lots of walking, data collecting, and a spot of table tennis in the evenings! 

Sienna Macfarlane (Lower Sixth) reflected: “This last weekend at Leeson House has given me further depth into my A Level geography studies. I really enjoyed visiting Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door and seeing coastal processes in action! Thank you so much to all the staff that made it possible.”

Avneet Dhaliwal (Lower Sixth) said: “I really enjoyed the weekend away in Dorset and found it extremely useful for my NEA. Throughout the weekend we worked collaboratively on different techniques to collect and present data which I am now able to use in my NEA. Learning about the formation of Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door was also very interesting and has consolidated my knowledge on coastal landforms.”

View scenic photos from the trip here.